Field
The described embodiments relate to techniques for reducing the power consumption of electronic devices in a wireless network.
Related Art
Many modern electronic devices include a networking subsystem that is used to wirelessly communicate with other electronic devices. For example, these electronic devices can include a networking subsystem with a cellular network interface (UMTS, LTE, etc.), a wireless local area network interface (e.g., a wireless network such as described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard or Bluetooth™ from the Bluetooth Special Interests Group of Kirkland, Washington), and/or another type of wireless interface.
Because network and environmental conditions can degrade the performance of wireless communication, many networking subsystems (such as those that support High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA) include a baseline (simple) receiver and an advanced receiver. Advanced receivers, such as a minimum-mean-squared-error decision-feedback-equalization (MMSE-DFE) receiver can help eliminate multi-path interference in a single-cell scenario, as well as cancelling neighboring-cell interference in a multi-cell scenario.
The advanced receivers typically consume a significant amount of power compared to baseline receivers, such as a linear minimum-mean-squared-error (L-MMSE) receiver. However, in some network and environmental conditions, the advanced receivers provide little or no gain over the baseline receivers. Consequently, networking subsystems that include an advanced receiver may significantly increase the power consumption and reduce the operating time of the electronic device without improving the communication performance, which can frustrate users and degrade the user experience.